Coyote Outlaw
by Wolf-of-Hope
Summary: Sequel to To Be The Greatest. Now the outlaw known as the Coyote, Alex goes on a quest for her only known other family member and ends up in a mystery linked to a very important person. Rated for violence, language, and some mature themes.
1. Coyote Travels and Propositions

**Hey everybody! I'm back, with the second part of my trilogy based on Alex the Coyote. This one is about...well, you'll just have to find out, heh, while the third story will be about...uh, you'll have to find that out too, sorry!**

**Meanwhile, check out my friend Chelsea, her name's whitefire22 ((or was it 55? Uh-oh!))**

**My computer's being a turd, so I can't preview my chapters after I upload them on my computer...I have to go to the library, which I'm at right now. Oh, yeah, I may POSSIBLY update my "Blackrain Euphony" story, since I'm currently under threat of death, but I kinda dropped it off after the second chapter, so I'll have to start on it again.**

**Soooo...ladies and gentleman, welcome to my newest story! Read and review, pretty please!  
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Pain. Anger. Hate. Love.

In her short life, she had suffered all of these things, and many more. But all of it had combined together, to build the female outlaw wonder known as Alex the Coyote.

She sat in the back of the bus, resting her head against the warm window, and letting the motions of the vehicle lull her into a doze. In the three years since she had left the Red Hill Coyotes, Alex had become, maybe not supremely notorious, but at least a common household conversation topic. She had committed robberies and thefts, hijackings, ransoms, and the like. For most of them, she had enlisted the help of a few scrawny youngsters with similar dreams of outlaw greatness, and had given them boosts in that direction with her crimes, as well as splitting her earnings amongst them, keeping for herself only what was needed to survive.

Alex yawned, and raising her head slightly, she smoothed back her long dark brown hair from her face, then leaned her face against the window again, staring out at the surrounding desert. They were heading for the town of Falcon's Eye, where she was planning a small bank robbery to keep up the money in her pockets.

They hadn't wanted her to go, she remembered, her gang. Vann had fought the most, pleading with her to stay with them. Lucius had asked her to stay as well, but he had known what she needed to do. The rest of the gang had been sad, and though it had hurt her slightly, she knew, also, what she needed to do. There was only one person who would've been able to make her stay, and he**_-_**

Alex flinched, remembering that particularly painful memory. The gun firing; the bullet striking him, and him collapsing to the ground. _Eamon_. The first love of her young life, she was now certain of that.

But it wasn't good to think of the bad things, and the ever-optimistic opportunist moved on.

She had spent most of her time away from the gang knee-deep in crime sprees, but she _did_ have a plan, and that was to eventually reach the town of Lunaras, where one of her last remaining relatives, a wealthy and retired sheriff named Gabriel Daelin, lived. But she was very easily distracted and sidetracked, and she took every opportunity for money and infamy that she could.

Something in the distance caught her attention, and, focusing, she could make out buildings up ahead. That meant they were almost to Falcon's Eye.

When they reached the town, she hopped off the bus, slinging a small bag she carried over her shoulder, and heading at a brisk pace through the town, scanning the buildings with sharp but inconspicuous eyes. Very few people were bound to suspect a young woman in a pair of tan pants, black boots, a tan trenchcoat, and a blue bandana, holding her hair back, underneath a tan cowboy hat. That wasn't unusual, especially in a desert. Even the pair of guns at her belt, both of them which she had gotten shortly after her first robbery, weren't suspicious; pretty much everyone had a gun. She easily blended in with everyone else.

"Ah," she murmered, as soon as she saw what she was looking for: a saloon. _This_ is where she'd appear the most suspicious; because, of course, _everyone_ in a saloon was suspicious. At least, that's what she had learned. As quietly as she could she pushed the doors opened, and stepped in, waiting a moment until her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting. As she expected, everyone was staring at her, until they quickly, or in some cases slowly, returned to their drinks, card games, and conversations. Alex smiled to herself and headed to the bar. "Whiskey, please," she said, taking a stool.

"Ain't that a bit strong, madame?" The bartender, a short, stout balding man in a dirty white shirt, cleaning a glass.

Alex pretended to think about it, then said good-naturedly, "No, not really." He shrugged, and grumbling to himself, moved to get her drink. She smiled, then let her eyes rove the room, seeming like a normal gesture, but she was really screening the saloon for the right type of people she needed for her next job.

Her eyes came across a four-person group, made up of dirty, rag-wearing children who probably weren't a day over fourteen, and were probably using the only money they had to get some of the thirst-quenching lemonade that sat at the center of their table in a large glass pitcher, and was already almost half-empty. Alex looked closer, and made little mental notes as she scanned them: three boys and a girl; ranging around ten years old; and so it continued. Finally, she had made her decision, although she had decided a while before anyways.

When she turned back, she found her whiskey was sitting in front of her. In one swift movement she gripped it in her hand, brought it to her lips, and dumped the whole thing down, swallowing the burning liquid quickly as she sat the glass back on the bar. She delicately raised a finger, and the dirty old bartender nodded slowly and went for the whiskey bottle. After her second shot, then a third, she nodded to him, then stood and went for the table with the children.

The girl noticed her first, and murmered something into the ear of the boy on her left side. The boy glanced at Alex, then nudged the other boy next to him, and the last two glanced up as one. Alex took a table between the girl and the boy on her right side, and smiled brightly at all of them.

The boy across from her frowned and said, "Whaddya want?"

Alex's smile turned into a lazy grin. "I have a proposition for you."

One of the boys muttered to his left, "What'sa proposition?"

"An offer," Alex added quickly. She leaned forward and said in a conspiratorial voice, "Do you wanna make some easy cash?" When they all seemed to make a silent agreement, leaning forward to listen closely as one group, she continued. "My name's Alex the Coyote. Can we go somewhere to talk?"

"Why us?" the girl asked. She had sharp, wary eyes, and seemed much more cautious and thinking than the boys. "Can't you find some others, adults? They'll help you better."

"I've noticed that kids help me better," Alex said. "And I know you'll wanna make some bucks, right?"

"Listen, lady, we ain't just some stupid little kiddies, y'know," the girl replied, narrowing her grey-blue eyes. She had dirty lobe-length blond hair, and wore jean pants and a short-sleeved oversized shirt, like the other boys. Alex could sense a wisdom from her, and something that gave her illogical pride. "We wanna hear the whole thing. No lies, no tricks, y'hear?"

"Yeah, I hear," Alex answered. "But we have to get outta here, first. I don't want eavesdroppers." They looked at each other, silently considering it, then came to an agreement visually, and all arose, and she hurried to the bar to pay for her drinks, then went back to them. Quickly they led Alex out of the saloon, heading down the street. They reached a slummy-looking apartment building, and the kids entered the unlocked door, scrambling up a flight of stairs, and then another, before reaching a door. This was unlocked as well, and they simply swung it open, clambering inside. The girl closed the door behind Alex.

She looked around, surveying the setting. All of the furniture, which consisted of a couch and chair in the main room and mattresses in the back, around a wall corner, was dirty, old, wrecked or broken in some way, and falling apart. Dirty clothes, trash, and all manners of other things were scattered across the floor. Everything had a dirty, sweaty sheen to it; the room was also rather warm, the only cooling means being open windows, and the air was still and heavy outside. All in all, this was a home of the poor.

"Don't like it, leave it," one of the boys growled, watching her with narrowed eyes. She looked at him, and flashed a grin.

"I used to live in worse," she answered. That silenced them. She headed for the couch and flung herself onto it, hearing the creak of old rusty springs as she did. One of the boys took the chair, and another sat on the arm of it; a third boy sat on the floor in front of the chair, and the girl sat on the other side of the couch from Alex.

"So, what's your names?" Alex asked.

One of the boys, the one on the chair arm, stiffened and started to say, "None of your_-_" but the boy in the chair silenced him with a wave of his hand.

"I'm Xav," he announced, then gave a light push to the boy on the chair arm. "This is Joey. And this one," he continued, lightly nudging the head of the boy sitting in front of him with his knee, "is Pepp."

"And I'm Merrick," the girl said, and smiled. "Merrick the Maverick. Or just Merri."

"Nice to meet you," Alex said, grinning back.

"So...what is your proposition?" Xav asked. "I'm truly curious."

"As you know, I'm an outlaw," Alex said. They nodded. "And I'm best at robbin' banks and stealin' weapons an' vehicles. In all my jobs, I seek help of the locals**_-_**to help me out, 'cause they'd know the town better than I do. Plus, most of them are very promising as outlaws."

"And you want us to help you," Merrick guessed quickly.

"Exactly," Alex answered._Smart one._"You'd get half the profits."

All four raised an eyebrow, and leaned in eagerly.

"And what do we really have to do?" Pepp asked.

"I'll plan this out, an' you'll each have diff'rent jobs." Alex scanned them quickly, then pointed at Joey. "Are you fast?"

He gave her a crooked grin. "Lady, I'm the fastest _person_ in town, let alone _kid_."

"Then you'd be good for running the money out," Alex finished, smiling. Then she pointed to Xav. "And you, you would be good as a door guard**_-_**keep everyone from entering and leaving." Xav had a very strong, muscular build, besides the fact that he was the tallest and seemed to be the oldest.

"And me?" Pepp asked. He was the shortest, smallest, and had a very skinny, tiny frame. He looked to be about half his age, which Alex placed skeptically around eight or nine.

"You'd be good to get behind the counter and get the money," Alex answered. He'd fit between the bars easily.

"And me?" Merrick asked.

"Well, we have a maverick here, right?" Alex asked her. The girl grinned. "So, you'll help me charge in and keep everyone calm. We'll have to bail pretty fast after Joey skips with the money; and I'll also need someone to help after Pepp opens the gate door, so you'll either help take out the money or keep everyone calm." She eyed them all, since none seemed to have any more questions. "So what say you?"

There was a collective silence, as the four children exchanged looks and thoughts. Then Merrick clapped her hands together, and said excitedly, "We'll do it!"

"Great!" Alex cried happily. "Let's start plannin'!"  
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**Sooo...how do you like so far? Originally, when I first wrote "To Be The Greatest", I didn't expect to get very far. Now look at me, I'm gonna write a trilogy! This thing has developed SO much from my original plans, I just have to carry it on.**

**P.S. I'M GOING TO A SYSTEM OF A DOWN CONCERT IN SEPTEMBER! IF I can come up with $75, that is...currently I have $30, but my sis is gonna pay me back some of the money she owes me, and my mom's also gonna send up some money from Florida to me. My Uncle Chad's taking me...that's so cool! He's the only person in my dad's side of the family who's ever been arrested in hot pursuit! Isn't that awesome!**

**Yes...I have no Quote-of-the-Chapter for this chapter, but I'll come up with TWO in my next chappie!**

**Much love,**

-Wolf


	2. Falcon's Eye Robbery

**Here we are, with chappie TWO! I have a character that is probably gonna get some rabid fangirls coming up in the later chapters...and seriously, pay attention to everything you read from Chap. 3 and onwards, it can be deathly important.**

**MUAHAHA! I have this whole thing plotted out...it's gonna get pretty deep, much more so than the first story. Though I'm still totally sad about what I did to Eamon... ((starts bawling))... but it HAD to be done. Oh, yeah, just to let you know, Alex doesn't swear NEARLYas much as she used to in the first story...I didn't plan that, it just kinda happened! Though there'll be plenty of cussing later on, trust me, hehe.**

**Yaarrrhhh...READ AND REVIEW, my loves.  
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The robbery went off without a hitch. Alex, Merrick, Pepp, and Joey breezed in with a few others, and waited as Xav took his post just inside the doorway. Then immediately, guns drawn, Merrick let off a single shot at Alex's command, and as screams broke out and people collapsed to the floor, Alex spoke.

"Ladies and gentlemen, there is no need to fear," she declared steadily, sending a calm smile at everyone. "It is simply Alex the Coyote, come to make a withdrawal."

She followed Merrick and Pepp to the counter, as Joey made his way to the back exit.

"Mr. Bank Clerk," Alex announced, easily leveling her gun at him and flashing him a warm smile. "Can you take out some money for me, please?"

"C**_-_**certainly," the old man stammered. As he turned his back and headed for the money slots, Merrick boosted Pepp onto the counter. The tiny boy slid with ease through the bars, and smiled at the startled old man when he looked back. Pepp hurried over to the gate and quickly slipped the bolt off, pulling it open.

Alex slid inside, tossing her gun to Merrick, who caught it and held both guns double, scanning the room sharply. The outlaw hurried over to Pepp and the old man, as they hustled into the back where all the drawers with the money rested. Quickly Alex whipped her bag forward, and opening it, both her, Pepp, and the old man began stuffing a hefty amount into the bag.

As she worked, Alex heard the bells of the door opening, and Xav say in a polite voice, "Sorry, ma'am, the bank's closed for the moment," and a woman saying anxiously, "O**_-_**okay, then, I'll come back tomorrow," as she hurried out the door. The outlaw grinned wide.

When it was full to the brim, Alex grabbed the bag and passed it to Joey, who, at her wave, scrambled out the exit and off towards their hiding place.

"Alex!" Merrick called. There was a worried tone to her voice.

Alex looked out through the bars, following the girl's direction with a gun barrell. "Oh, company!" Alex said, delighted. The sheriff, not to mention an assortment of other men, were across the street, taking cover behind posts and vehicles, their guns aimed at the bank. A deputy stood out in the open, and was announcing their rights and the fact that "they should come out with hands up" before "we open fire".

"Dorks," Pepp said, and Alex giggled as she grabbed a few more wads of cash, stuffing them into Pepp's and her own pockets. Then she turned to the old man, who stood with his hands up.

"Here, Mr. Clerk," Alex said, and stuffed a wad of bills into his belt.

The man's eyes widened. "But, Miss**_-_**"

"Call me Alex," she answered, grinning. He nodded, and muttered an astonished thanks.

She headed through the gate. Pepp slipped the bolt, then slid back through the bars, only catching his pocket for a moment, from the wads of money.

"C'mon, Xav, Merrick," Alex called, waving to them. The children scrambled out the back, and after hearing the back door bang shut, she counted to ten, before pushing open the door and diving through.

The sheriff and his men were too startled to fire, and she used this to her advantage. As fast as she could she ran straight at them, and as they involuntarily dived out of the way, she hurried inside the building they were standing in front of; it happened to be a saloon. As women shrieked and men yelled, she hurried upstairs, knowing the men would be after her.

When she reached the upper floor, she dove through a bedroom door, which was left slighty ajar. A man and woman were going at it heavily on the bed, and didn't even notice her. She threw a grin in their direction, then scrambling towards the window, she threw open the shutters, gazed down upon the building resting below, and dove out.

She landed on her feet, and rolled to absorb the shock, before racing along the building top. She did a flying leap over a street, landing with a slight stumble on the next building. When she reached the next street, which was very busy, she dropped down into the crowd; nobody noticed her, to her distracted amusement.

Alex traveled through the busy, crowded street for a while, stopping at vendors, but keeping herself virtually anonymous, until she figured a good enough amount of time had gone by. She hurried through a back alleyway, discovered where she was, and headed back to the building where the kids kept residence.

She reached their door, and knocked. There was no reply at first, but then the door swung open...only for her to be greeted staring down the barrells of two familiar pistols. But then she heard Pepp's voice cry, "It's Alex!" and the guns were immediately dropped, to reveal a sweaty-faced, grinning Merrick.

"We did it!" she screamed, as Alex entered the room and swung the door shut. Xav was slung over the couch, with Pepp resting on his stomach; Joey sat in the chair, with his legs thrown over one arm. Merrick returned to her position on the floor, where she had counted and divided up the money into two equal halves, and was now dividing one half into fourths.

Alex came over, eyed her pile, did a mental calculation, then smiled. This _small _bank robbery had come out with very _large _results. She grabbed her bag, which was sitting nearby, and started putting her half into the bag. "So, what are you gonna do with all that money?" she asked them.

"Well, we were kinda talkin' about it," Merrick began, "and we think we're gonna skip down and head for a city. Maybe December."

Alex smiled, as she finished stacking her money into the bag. "That's a good plan. I wish all four of you great luck."

And she snagged a bus into Lunaras the very next morning.  
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**Muahahaha...now it all begins... **

"Conceited? I'm not conceited. Conceit is a fault, and I have no faults."

**"I have just kidnapped myself. Give me $1,000,000, or you'll never see me again!" ---from a shirt I just bought a few days ago, hehe! **

-Wolf


	3. Lunaras

**I'M SO SORRY, MY LOVES! I have been gone soooo long, I'm sorry, sorry, sorry! Wow, lotsa stuff has happened since I've been gone...I started a new year at school, developed a whole new set of friends, and my interests shifted nearly entirely from anime/manga to music...but I still love manga, not as passionate as before but still pretty good, and I WILL finish this story. I promise! Anyways, yeah, if anyone even remembers the original story anymore...("To Be The Greatest")...but yeah, I have four or five chapters I'm gonna upload right now, to make things easier. 'Course my notes will be shorter, but does anyone read this anyways? Lol, read and review, my loves!  
+**

It was noon, two days later, when Alex finally stumbled off of the bus, with her bag slung over her shoulder, and began her stride into the town known as Lunaras. She shaded her eyes from the sun and looked around as she walked, and noticed with a twang the peaceful, cozy air of the town. And, to her surprise, she didn't see many people dressed to her style; most were wearing the homey clothing of new settlers, domestic housewives, hard-working fathers, or laid-back folks. She was now a conspicuous entity.

But again, to her surprise, nobody seemed bothered by her presence; when they noticed her, all they did was smile or wave, and return back to their work. Nobody stared at her overlong, nobody treated her as suspicious or strange. It was as much unsettling as it was relieving.

She finally found a saloon, and when she entered she was again greeted with surprise; the customers weren't the usual rowdy, rough-dressed men and women that she was used to seeing in a bar. None of them were suspicious in any way, unless one counted their odd blandness, which was strangely unique and fitting for each person; and, again, the only signs of attention that she received were smiles and an occasional wave or spoken greeting.

_What kind of a town is this? _she wondered, and headed for the bar. The bartender was an older gentlemanly-like, silvery-haired man, and his assistant was a girl, who looked no older than fifteen, with long dark brown hair and large, open dark brown eyes.

"Hello," the man greeted Alex, and the girl scrambled over, smiling huge. "Hey!" she said, and giggled.

Alex smiled at them wide. "Hello," she replied, then ordered her usual whiskey.

"Not a problem," the man said with a curteous smile and small bow, then looked at the girl and said, "Lily?" The girl quickly fetched a glass, ice, and the liquor. "Prety strong stuff," the girl said and giggled again, passing over the glass then pouring out the whiskey.

Alex took a sip, then smiled. "Thank you," she said. After finishing the glass off, she waited as the girl, Lily, topped her off again, then asked, just before taking another sip, "Do either of you know where I can find a man named Gabriel Daelin?"

Lily's eyes widened and she gasped, still grinning. "Oh, gosh, yes!" she squealed gleefully. The man nodded as well.

"Mr. Daelin is a very famous and important man in this town," he said. "You just arrived here, did you not?"

"I did," Alex affirmed.

"Well, you've also noticed the, well, atmosphere of the town?" he added, and waited for her confirming nod. "Mr. Daelin did that, when he used to be the sheriff. He sent out all the outlaws and troublemakers, and kept more from returning. He was tough on the baddies and those who had done wrong, but he was also an incredibly fair, kind, and just man. He would always listen to their side of the story first, and give everyone the benefit of the doubt, though he never tolerated liars. Are you family of his? You two share a familiar look."

"Distantly," Alex said, curious and excited by that bit of news. "Where can I find him?"

"Lives on the other side of town," Lily said. "In a _biiiiiigggg _white house, with sky-blue shutters and a sky-blue porch. If you knock you'll probably get one of his maids, either Martà or Namì. Just tell them you're coming to see Señor Daelin, they'll let you pass."

"Señor?" Alex repeated. Lily giggled again.

"Well, the maids can only speak that language, and they always call him the Señor," she said in a secretive voice.

"Ah, okay," Alex answered, then, after knocking back the remaining whiskey, she smiled at both of them. "Thank you so very much." She reached into her bag, selected a good-sized bill, and placed it on the top. The old man's eyes widened, while the girl gasped and covered her mouth in surprise. Alex smiled, then stood and started to leave, but just as she reached the door she heard the man call, "Wait!" She turned back, and waited patiently.

"What's your name, miss?" he asked.

"Alex," she answered with a flash of a grin, then, just before she pushed her way out the door, added, "Alex Daelin."  
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**Yes...I have a bit of an obsession with Spanish, lmao. If I got anything wrong, please don't hurt me, I had bilingual classes in kindergarten, first, and second grade, but I've forgotten a lot. Anyways, yeah, and I can't get my exclamation pointsand question marks flipped upside down, so ignore that, too!**

**_"Life's a grave...dig it!"_  
-From a Wednesday 13 song...**

**-Wolf**


	4. Gabriel Daelin

**Chappie FOUR! You will discover some of Alex's past...and more later...I have this whole plot set out, only the ending is a bit sketchy, I haven't finished it yet...I started thinking of this when I was halfway through "To Be The Greatest", soo...the fruits of my labor! My ickle labor of looooove...yes, so...read, and, and, like, comment...okay? (intimidating face) Do it!**

**Lol...just kidding...heh...or...am I? (dun dun DUUUUN!)**

**(...I know...I'm such a loser! Lol!)  
+**

_Lily wasn't joking, _Alex thought to herself, as she stood in front of Gabriel Daelin's house. She gave an appreciative whistle. _This place is _huge

It had _at least _four aboveground floors, maybe five, and seemed to loom up into the clouds. There was a high, steeple roof, then four rows of windows, the last of which being where the door sat; the house itself was painted a fresh white, while the shutters were a pretty sky-blue, as was the large deck and awning porch in front of the door. Alex stood a few yards from the bottom step of the porch, eyeing the house with awe.

Finally she gathered all of her courage, and hustled up the steps, to the door. She hesitated, then knocked loudly. A few seconds later, a short, plump woman with short, dark curly brown hair, small dark eyes, brown skin, and wearing a white uniform including a blouse and skirt with white socks and shoes, answered, staring at her with a slightly suspicious look on her face.

"_Hola,_"the woman greeted. "_Si?_"

"Er..." Alex fumbled for words, then finally blurted, "I've come to see Señor Daelin."

"_El señor? Uno momento,_"she answered, and closed the door briskly. Alex listened, and heard someone moving about swiftly in the house. She then heard a voice call, "_Señor Daelin, la guesta._"

"_Gracias, _Martà," a warm masculine voice suddenly replied, and as Alex's heartbeat quickened, she heard steps approaching the door. Then it swung open.

She blinked for a moment up at the man in front of her. He stood tall, at six feet, and had dark brown hair, much like her own, scattered with grey and trimmed neatly around his scalp, and he had a fine-kept grey-splotched dark brown moustache. His skin was tanned from much time in the sun, he had laugh lines and wrinkles around his dark brown eyes and heavily etched on his forehead, and he wore black slacks and a white lined button-up shirt.

"Yes?" he asked, smiling politely. His voice was shockingly like her own, only with a very masculine edge to it, as well as something older; his accent traced that of Lunaras, the sound of the language the woman had spoken. "May I help you?"

"Uh...Gabriel Daelin?" she asked, trying to keep a stammer from her voice. He looked at her closely, frowning slightly, then said curteously, "Would you like to come inside?"

"Um, okay," Alex mumbled and followed him inside. She blinked in awe at all the furniture and priceless items lining cabinets, coffee tables, and oaken stands. She had to stare at the fineness of the house itself; Mr. Daelin was a _very _wealthy man, it seemed.

"Take a seat," he offered, motioning to the couch draped with a white blanket. She nodded, swallowing hard, and took a seat. She felt a buzzy feeling in her stomach, and felt uncomfortable and nervous, fidgeting slightly. "Namì!" he called, and a second white-uniformed woman bustled quickly into the room. She was much, much slimmer than the other woman, and very trim and healthy-looking, though she had the same curly dark brown hair, shoulder-length this time, and the same small dark eyes and brown skin. Gabriel told the woman something in her language, and she nodded and hurried out, apparently into a kitchen.

She returned nearly immediately with a pair of lemonades, carried on a tray, which she sat on the coffee table sitting in front of the couch, where Alex sat, and across from the armchair the man had selected. He let her take a nervous sip of the lemonade, then as soon as she sat it back down he spoke.

"So, may I ask what you are doing here?"

"Um..." she racked her brain, trying to think of something. Finally she just let her mind work everything out, and her mouth began to move. "Look, my name's Alex. I'm an outlaw; I used to be an orphan, before joinin' a gang, then leavin' to become infamous on my own. I discovered, the day of my fourteenth birthday, that my last name was Daelin; an' that you, Mr. Daelin, were the only known existin' family I have. S' I trecked my way from where I used to be, in April City, to here, Lunaras, to meet you and discover more of myself and my history."

There was a long silence, in which neither of them moved or did a thing. Then, finally, Gabriel spoke.

"Alex Daelin? I suppose that's short for Alexandra?"

"Alexandria, apparently," Alex answered, quietly, anxiously.

Suddenly, to her utter surprise, he burst out laughing. "I knew it, from the moment I lay eyes on you! You're my granddaughter, my first and only!"

Her eyes widened, and she laughed, relieved. "How did you guess?"

"Well, first of all, we look so familiar, and sound familiar, didn't you notice as well?" She nodded, and he continued. "And, plus, it's your name, but I'll get to that later. There's _so _much I want to tell you!" He stood, and began pacing the room. "Where to begin, where to begin?"

After a pause, he seemed to come to a decision, and he settled back down. She sensed the atmosphere in the room change; a storyteller had just taken control.

"The Daelin bloodlines have always been extremely rare," he began. She nodded, leaning in with curiosity."There were only two Daelins who started out on this planet, and they were twin girls. The younger girl died from a fever, and the older one apparently married for a brief time, conceiving a child, but then divorced before the child's birth and spread out into the world. A young male was born, and she died when he was but a young one, who had only recently noted his last name of Daelin.

"He grew up, married, and his wife bore another pair of twins, this time a boy and girl. Then the father died, and the twins spread out into the world. One died much later on, but the other managed to carry on the Daelin name. Slowly, throughout the years, the name Daelin has spread down, from mother or father to child, but there have never been many Daelins alive at one time; at one moment in history there were up to six, but then things thinned out again. The Daelin line was at a constant threat of being extinguished.

"At one time, it did leave the world, when a Daelin mother died in labor and her child was given the name of the woman's consort's family. After the child grew up, though, he discovered his true name, and once again the Daelin name was entered into use. At many other points in time it was near to vanishing, but some brave, proud soul always brought it back with the stubbornness and determination known in our veins.

"I was born into this world as a Daelin, but my own mother, the only other Daelin, died when I was but a teenager. But I strived onwards, and eventually I learned of the injustice and brutality carrying on in this world. I decided to do something about it; so after I came across an outlaw-ridden town known as Lunaras, I joined the sheriff and soon became a deputy. Eventually, as I know you know, I became _the _sheriff.

"I met a woman at some point; she was a proud, cold, and incredibly independent outlaw, and _I _was the one who was sent to arrest her. It went off mostly without a hitch, save for the fact that I fell in love with her and she hated me from first sight. But eventually, as she sat in prison with me as her only companion, she wore down and we grew into close friends, which continued into lovers and eventually spouses.

"She took my name without argument, and from her we bore one child, a daughter, who looked exactly like her mother, and acted exactly like her, down to her ice-cold blue eyes and ivory skin and cold, icy, distant personality. But my wife, the outlaw, soon grew restless, and one day she simply...vanished."

Here, he stopped, and seemed to drift off. But then he snapped back to attention, and said, "Your mother, my daughter, did the exact same thing, when she was a mere eleven-year-old. Just one day vanished, a little girl in a great big world. I haven't seen her since, but I know for a fact that you're her daughter. A bit in appearance, though you look more like the Daelin blood than that of your grandmother, but mostly, in airs. You have that same independent, proud, stubborn, and wild side to you...the same thing that turned your grandmother, as well as your mother, into an outlaw."

"You haven't seen her since?" Alex asked. She was now incredibly curious, not only about this history but about her mother. "What do you think happened to her?"

"Through my connections as a sheriff, which I retired from only five years back, I learned that she became an outlaw, fierce and dangerous, feared all over Gunsmoke. But I lost word of her a year before I retired, when she would have been fourteen, and I never heard a single thing about her since. No crimes, no reckless actions, nothing. Not even a death."

Alex felt a chill go up her back at the last word; was her mysterious mother already dead?

"I'm afraid there's not much more I can tell you," he said finally, shifting in his seat. "You're welcome to stay the night here, if you wish."

She was tempted to accept the offer, but finally she declined. "Thank you, but I already have a room in mind at the inn."

After that the customary courtesies were exchanged, and then, as she headed out the door, she turned to face him. "Thank you, once again, for everything you've told me."

He smiled, and said, "It was no problem, Alex." Then he paused, and after a moment smiled in a bittersweet way, adding, "My daughter was always thinking of names, she loved making names, mostly in thought of a future in businesses where she could change her name around, you know, things like that. My daughter's favorite name was Alexandria.**"  
+ **

Yes, I probably farked the Spanish up even more in this one. Don't be mad at me...(cries)...I know Spanish, French, and can count in Korean, so I just went with the one I know best, Spannie...haha, Spannie, I find that amusing...

**"You say 'erb', we say '_h_erb', because there's an effing H in it!"  
-Eddie Izzard, British comedian **

-Wolf


	5. Shock and Accusations

**Okay, I'm only putting up these three chapters, for three reasons: 1) my friend is whining at me to call her, 2) I need to make you all squirm (evil look), and 3)...because I CAN!**

**Muahahaha!  
+**

Alex lay in bed, late that night, staring up at the ceiling. She listened to the merry noise downstairs as she puzzled over everything her apparent grandfather, Gabriel, had told her.

From what he had told her, she noticed that the Daelins died often; and since he had described the blood as being "stubborn, determined, proud, reckless" at different points, she figured that it was because of wild lifestyles, such as being an outlaw, and maybe a few deaths were based on chance. But mostly her mind was lapping around thoughts of her mother, and then darker thoughts; why did her mother abandon her and leave her to the lifestyle of an impoverished orphan?

Slowly, she started dozing off, the blackness of the dark room enveloping her, her eyelids drooping and shutting, her breathing slowing. Then, with a start, she came fully awake, as a thought struck her: _she hadn't asked what her mother's name was!_

_Oh, well, _she thought. _I'll have to go back tomorrow. _Then she fell into a heavy sleep.

After arising a while before noon, in the earlier hours of late morning, Alex dressed, headed downstairs and had a small breakfast with the added touch of whiskey, then walked over to Gabriel's house. But as she approached, a tingling feeling started in her stomach, making her increasingly nervous and uncomfortable. The hairs on the back of her neck stood up, goosebumps broke out over her arms, and chills traveled up her spine.

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Alex quickened her pace towards the door, and bolted up the steps of the porch, freezing directly in front of the door. Her stomach did a somersault; there were scrapemarks around the doorknob and doorjamb, and it was open ever so slightly. She slipped out a pistol and pushed the door open slowly, entering at a slow, cautious pace. There was no sound inside; everything was dead silent.

She followed the path to the living room that Gabriel had led her to before, and what she saw there made her gape in shock and dread.

Laying on the floor, on his stomach in a pool of blood that seemed to be spreading from his chest area, was Gabriel Daelin; dead as dead could ever be.

She conquered her brief spasm of shock, and crouched beside him, turning him back over onto his back so she could examine the wound. Two shots, within millimeters of each other; straight to the heart. Alex glanced around the room; there didn't seem any signs of much of a struggle, besides that a little wooden stand beside the door was tipped over against the nearby cabinet.

She followed the scene with her mind: somebody entered the house by the door, and took Gabriel by surprise as he or she entered the living room. Two shots to the heart, he didn't even have a chance to yell, and he went down like a sack of potatoes, turning or rolling in the process. The killer, in his or her haste to escape, probably tipped the stand over, and left the door open.

Alex grimaced as she pulled her hand back, the fingertips covered in blood. Her grandfather's blood.

A mind-shattering scream petrified her for a moment, and then when she finally whipped around, she saw Martà standing in the doorway, a shopping bag dropped at her feet, her hands pressed to her cheeks, mouth open. She emitted another scream before Alex could say anything, then turned and started running.

"No**_-_**no, Martà! It isn't what it looks like**_-_**Martà!" Alex called desperately, then turned her attention back to the dead man. _Who killed you? _she wondered silently. _Who would have done this?_

She headed to the doorway and looked around; it was best to be running off now. But even as she started out, she heard shouts, and saw men rushing at her, one of which was wearing the sheriff's badge, with his gun drawn. She put up her hands, and said, "It wasn't me."

"I don't want to hear it," the sheriff said, as the handcuffs were clapped rather roughly around her wrists. "You're under arrest for the murder of Gabriel Daelin."  
+

**"I never said be like me, I said be yourself, and make a difference."  
-Marilyn Manson (aww, an inspirational quote!)**

-Wolf


End file.
